An inventory of public relations crises in the first half of 2019!

2019 is already halfway through, and the entire PR industry is still thriving. The 315 Gala, which has less and less information, the frequent corporate quarrels, the PR war behind the 618 e-commerce war, Huawei's beautiful PR counterattack, and even the largest PR war between China and the United States...

Behind these cases, big and small, we can still discover the essence through the phenomenon. Today, let’s take stock of what happened in the entire public relations circle in the first half of 2019 and what insights we can gain from it.

Phenomenon 1: Food safety crisis becomes a daily occurrence

This year's 315 Gala can be said to be the one with the least amount of information in history. It is very obvious that 315 has begun to care about more daily consumption issues that are closer to the general public. For example, the 714 high-interest loan problem exposed this year, the problem of harassing phone calls that illegally collect personal privacy, and the spicy strips sold at the gates of primary and secondary schools.

Among the crises that occurred in companies in the first half of this year, the proportion of food safety-related crises has increased significantly, and most of them involved well-known catering companies. In March alone, many well-known catering companies such as Waipojia, Xibei Youmiancun, Wallace, Zhou Hei Ya, and Wanfengting Japanese Food were exposed for having dirty and messy kitchens, and some were even directly named by the People's Daily.

Even leading catering companies are not immune. On May 29, a pregnant woman said she found a green-headed fly in the fruit tea she bought at the Heytea Yuanrong store in Suzhou, Jiangsu. The relevant departments then quickly sealed off the store and carried out rectification. What’s scary is that this is the fourth food safety crisis that Heytea has been exposed to in half a year.

Shortly after the Heytea incident, on June 10, some media reported that employees of a store of another leading tea brand "Nayuki Tea" "operated with bare hands and without wearing masks", raising questions about its hygiene conditions and standards.

Revelation 1: Crisis becoming a daily routine is a greater challenge for public relations professionals

The more direct contact a company has with consumers, the more the role of public relations will be magnified, especially for fast-moving consumer goods. For the companies here, the biggest fear is food safety issues. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a crisis that can determine the life or death of a company.

When 315 gradually loses its status as an annual major test, the daily occurrence of crises will become inevitable. Companies no longer need a PR team that was urgently formed on the night of March 15, but a PR team that can be called out to fight at any time. This is undoubtedly a huge challenge for public relations people. Public relations must conduct more frequent daily monitoring. We found that several major events recently were exposed through local TV stations and other channels, not to mention more issues exposed by self-media. A mobile force that can respond in a short period of time should definitely be standard for future enterprises.

Phenomenon 2: Public reporting by companies has become the norm

A very interesting phenomenon occurred in the first half of this year. Brands did not even rely on black public relations to attack their opponents, but actually got involved in the "fighting" themselves. Public reporting between companies seems to have become a popular trend. In June alone, there were four incidents of mutual complaints between companies that shocked the industry.

In these incidents, Galanz directly called out to Jack Ma, Ele.me and Meituan directly reported to the police, Gree & Aux dragged the regulatory authorities into the water, and Yili even dragged the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee directly into the battlefield. The momentum is getting bigger and bigger, and the scope of involvement is also getting bigger and bigger...

Revelation 2: Your opponent may be ready to fight you with a bayonet at any time

In the past, there have been many struggles between giants. Because there are too many duopoly industries in China, especially in the Internet industry, we have seen many public relations wars between giants. However, these are generally "secret wars". Even if they are more routine, they can only be included in the category of "black public relations". However, a letter of complaint from Gree Electric directly pushed down the first domino of the "reporting-style public relations war".

Reporting-style public relations wars are different from black public relations. They are hand-to-hand combat with no retreat, and the opponent has to fight directly with the bayonet. This kind of blatant public relations war puts most of the public relations work on the table, and it is easier to see who is superior and who is inferior.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: "Therefore, in the art of warfare, do not rely on the enemy not coming, but rely on what you have to wait for them; do not rely on the enemy not attacking, but rely on what you have that cannot be attacked."

This means that you should not hope that the enemy will not invade, but rely on your own full preparation and be ready for battle; you should not hope that the enemy will not attack, but rely on your own solid defense to be unbreakable.

The more frequently reporting-style public relations occur, the more vigilant we must be. Your opponent may fight you on the battlefield at any time. A keen public relations officer should be prepared at all times. If your opponent publicly declares war in the next second, do you have a response strategy?

Phenomenon 3: Marketing failures frequently occur

We also saw a number of marketing failures in the first half of the year. What was originally a good marketing plan turned into a crisis in the blink of an eye. This phenomenon generally occurs in two situations.

The most typical one is marketing by leveraging the situation. In fact, cases of accidental marketing using leveraged marketing tactics have been happening all the time, and this is not something that has only happened this year. For example, some people still make the same old mistakes. Pufa Bank used the fire martyrs to release a marketing poster.

There is also Durex’s 520 marketing series, with one heavy-tasting poster after another, which directly pushed the “old driver of marketing” off the altar... and forced Heytea to issue an apology letter.

Of course, it’s not just marketing by taking advantage of a situation that can fail. The brand’s own carefully planned marketing events can also fail at any time. Hema planned a "Republic of China Market" event in April, but the words "Let prices return to 1984" on the poster caused great controversy.

Anyone with a little historical knowledge knows that 1984 was one of the most famous periods of inflation in modern Chinese history, with prices soaring and people suffering. And what happened with Hema may be due to the fact that they have not learned history well. Fortunately, Alibaba’s public relations skills were so great that even the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League had to come out and give its praise, thus defusing the crisis.

There are also slogans like "Drink from childhood to adulthood" for Coco Tree Coconut Juice and "Drink from A to D" for Wahaha , which were considered vulgar and caused considerable controversy in the first half of the year. Although borderline marketing is not 100% illegal, it damages the brand's goodwill and creates certain crises.

Revelation 3: Internet traffic is a double-edged sword

When we plan marketing events and evaluate their effectiveness, we often don’t realize that marketing is very likely to turn into a crisis. When we pursue Internet traffic, it is difficult to realize that traffic is a double-edged sword. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. This may also give public relations people an inspiration. In today's era when the boundaries between marketing and public relations are becoming increasingly blurred, public relations should be more involved in the early stages and control the details and output methods of marketing events.

When evaluating marketing effectiveness, public relations also needs to make an assessment at the same time. How will public opinion react to the event? If negative public opinion arises, how should it be handled and responded to?

Author: Jun Xiaobao

Source: Jun Xiaobao